Links to Your World, Tuesday August 27

Being frugal is good for your love life

 

A keyboard that shocks you if you're spending too much time on Facebook.

 

Twenty percent of non-Christians in North America really do not 'personally know' any Christians. That's 13,447,000 people—about the population of metropolitan Los Angeles or Istanbul—most of them in the United States. Story

 

The one easy daily habit that makes life more awesome.

 

What if a psychiatrist could tell whether someone was about to commit suicide simply by taking a sample of their blood? Story

 

"As I wrestled with a theology of suffering, tainted by my 21st-century Western assumption that I deserve a comfortable and happy life, I stopped asking God why and how he could let schizophrenia happen to my family. I knew the answer: We are pervasively flawed and deeply altered by our sinful condition. And faith-filled or not, there is no reason such a thing shouldn't happen in this life. No reason it shouldn't have happened to my family. And someday, when we are each remade as whole and unmarred people, I imagine creation's renewal will be sweeter for people who have suffered the way Mom has. After accepting the truth and tragedy of our collective condition, I started seeing hope and redemption in our experience." Amy Simpson explains what it was like to grow up in the shadow of a schizophrenic mom--and how she came to terms with God in the process.

 

"They were guilty of nothing more than being typical 7-year-old boys. But in today’s school environment, that can be a punishable offense." Why schools have become hostile environments for boys.

 

Related: Finding Our Lost Boys. "The church has skewed ministry to the way many women learn and respond."

 

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Connecting Your Work to God's Work

How can Christian faith make a difference in the way you choose a career and do your job? Tim Keller highlights four ways Christian faith influences and shapes daily work in this blog post, which is a summary of his book, Every Good Endeavor: Connecting Your Work to God's Work.

First, the Christian faith gives us a moral compass, an inner GPS giving us ethical guidance that takes us beyond merely the legal aspects or requirements in any situation.

Second, your Christian faith gives you a new spiritual power, an inner gyroscope, that keeps you from being overthrown by either success, failure, or boredom.

Third, the Christian faith gives us a new conception of work as the means by which God loves and cares for his world through us.

Fourth, the Christian faith gives us a new world-and-life view that shapes the character of our work.

Read the post here.

 

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Links to Your World, Tuesday August 20

What happens every single minute on the internet:

 

"Has there ever been a QB whose game inspires such a strange and dissonant mixture of joy and dread in the mind of the fan?" From a GQ profile of RGIII. Perfect one-sentence summary of watching him play ever since Baylor days.

 

Sermon Illustration Alert: Andrew Baseman's blog, Past Imperfect: The Art of Inventive Repair "reports on chipped and cracked household items that were put back together with intricate, jerry-rigged apparatus, long before the invention of Krazy Glue. 'Make dos' are anathama to traditional antiques collectors, who want only pristine items....Past Imperfect, which launched in 2010, is the platform for Baseman’s mission to save these orphaned, misshapen objects and give them the respect they deserve....He believes 'it is my duty to rescue these plucky survivors, some lingering in limbo for hundreds of years of neglect. I make it sound like I run an adoption agency on the Island of Misfit Toys, which is fine with me.'" (story)

 

Russell Moore says the Bible Belt's decline may be "bad for America, but it's good for the church."

Fear of shouting "ChristIsKing"

 

Only Canada, China, North Korea, and U.S. Allow Abortion After Viability for Any Reason

 

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Shouting "ChristIsKing"

Mark Oppenheimer:

Last year a New York judge refused to allow a couple to change their family name to ChristIsKing. The judge argued that allowing certain names could infringe on the religious liberties of others, and he offered the example of a court employee forced to call out a name with a religious message.

“A calendar call in the courthouse would require the clerk to shout out, ‘JesusIsLord ChristIsKing’ or ‘Rejoice ChristIsKing,' ” wrote Judge Philip S. Straniere, of Richmond County. He was alluding to the daughter’s first name, Rejoice, and a name they had sought for their son, although no court would allow them to change it to “JesusIsLord.”

What's up with that odd explanation for the judge's refusal? Please, no one tell the judge what "Corpus Christi" means or we'll have to change the name of a popular Texas beach destination. Besides, I doubt the aim of the family name-change was to prompt shouts of praise to Jesus.

We can wait for that.

 

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Links to Your World, Tuesday August 13

Here's a chart showing how many milligrams of caffeine per ounce are in cups from McDonald’s, Dunkin’ Donuts, Starbucks, and the aptly named Deathwish Coffee

 

Time to get your adult-sized Big Wheel

 

The 10 Worst Password Ideas

 

A "War on Women" or a "War Between Women"?

 

Alcohol companies are getting ready for Africa: Is Africa ready for the consequences?

"While churches define the highest aims of life as salvation or enlightenment, social science research replaces these with health and wealth, well-being and satisfaction." Ari Schulman for the WSJ, in a piece explaining that, while social science repeatedly demonstrates the social benefits of faith, believers should be wary of placing too much stock in the results.

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Winning Ways: Actions That Say "We're Glad You're Here!"

You can help make our "Explore God" campaign a success by changing where you park and where you sit.

Yep, I've gone to meddling!

I'm thrilled to see the enthusiasm in our church for Explore God. The campaign is a citywide effort to bring together spiritually-prepared believers with spiritually-curious people to begin to have conversations about God. The media blitz in July and August will soon give way to a sermon series and small-group study in September and October.

We've prepared you for the campaign with two sessions of training, and your Bible study group will soon meet for an "Impact Night" to pray and gear up for the visitors we'll invite.

But as they come, let's make it easy for them find a place to park outside and to sit inside.

I often stand in the back for the first part of the service to welcome people. As our attendance has grown, I've noticed families come in and peer around to find a space large enough for them to sit together. If this is what we're seeing in the summertime, think about what's in store as school resumes.

Of course, growing pains are wonderful pains to have, but it still requires some adjustment. With a few simple changes to your routine, you can serve your Hillcrest family and the honored guests who visit us.

Park offsite and in the elevated lot. We'll run out of parking outside before we run out of seating inside. Leave the spots closest to the building for newcomers, senior adults, and families with small children. Park on Greenslope and on the gravel lot on the Adult Wing side.

Move forward and to the left. Since most of our attendance comes through the Children's Wing door, that's the section that fills up first. You can serve our Hillcrest Family and our visitors by moving a little more forward and a little more to the left from where you've been sitting. Baby steps!

S.O.S. For the next several months at Hillcrest, that means "scoot over some!" Don't make them scramble over your lap to get to an open spot. Welcome people with a smile as you scoot over and offer your spot gladly!

When it comes to making adjustments to other members of the Family and to our guests, we can choose an attitude of service or an attitude of "serve us." I know you'll make the right choice!

__________________________________________

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it will arrive in your inbox each Wednesday

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Links to Your World, Tuesday August 6

 

Grow your own edible bugs

 

My favorite Facebook post this week: "Kids playing with walkie talkies = shouting into it instead of talking, constant misunderstandings, and stalled at repeatedly asking each other "watcha doing now?" Sounds like they're ready for a FB account." (Melissa McKanna)

 

"Aslan is not presenting himself as an 'amateur historian' like David McCullough; he is claiming to be an academic historian with a doctorate degree in history." A worthy examination of Reza Aslan's claims to have the credentials necessary to be regarded as an authority on the New Testament. Aslan, a Muslim, has recently written a book rejecting the New Testament portrayal of Jesus.

 

By the by, I've yet to see any wry comment about a guy named "Aslan" who rejects the biblical Christ. Well, other than my own Twitter posts.

 

"Imagine a parody article like you’d find in the The Onion, only without the wit, humor, satire, or intelligence." Joe Carter nominates a NY Daily News "report" on a Brooklyn church plant as the worst religion report of the year. The article deserves the nomination.

 

"Enver worked fast, not bothering with clamps, cutting with his right hand, moving muscle and soft tissue aside with his left, slowing down only to make sure he excised the kidneys and liver cleanly. Even as Enver stitched the man back up—not internally, there was no point to that anymore, just so the body might look presentable—he sensed the man was still alive. I am a killer, Enver screamed inwardly. He did not dare to look at the face again, just as he imagined a killer would avoid looking at his victim." Chilling article about harvesting organs from executed convicts in China.

 

 

 

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